Rwandan President Paul Kagame said in an interview with CNN that was released on Monday that he did not know if Rwandan troops were in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
"I don't know," Kagame told CNN in response to the question about whether Rwandan troops were inside the DRC.
Kagame said that Rwanda was ready to do everything to protect itself.
"There are many things I don’t know. But if you want to ask me, is there a problem in Congo that concerns Rwanda? And that Rwanda would do anything to protect itself? I’d say 100%," Kagame said.
DRC government spokesman Patrick Muyaya reportedly accused Rwanda of sending about 10,000 troops to the country's east.
"I would like to remind you that we are no longer talking about the M23, but as you know, in recent days the Rwandan army has sent up to 10,000 soldiers to our territory. Special missions by Rwandan forces have been mobilized in the Lake Kivu region," media quoted Muyaya as saying.
The M23 armed group resumed an offensive in the eastern DRC in recent weeks after the failure of Angolan mediation efforts in 2022. The Congolese authorities have accused neighboring Rwanda of supporting rebels, urging it to withdraw troops from the country. Rwanda has denied the accusations. The most severe clashes are underway in the province of North Kivu and its main city of Goma.